Colombo: Twelve suspects have been arrested in connection with the pre-dawn LTTE attack on the airbase near Sri Lankan Capital in a joint search operation of Army and the police, the police said here today.

As many as eight of them have been taken into custody, police media spokesman Senior DIG Jayantha Wickramaratne said, adding the tense situation existed in the area have now returned to normalcy.

Defence Ministry spokesman Uday Nanayakkara said, "The situation is under full control of the Security Forces and an additional Army and Air Force team was deployed to provide maximum security to the Anuradhapura camp".

Inspector General of Police Victor Perera who visited the area to review the investigation process with regard to the infiltration of the LTTE to launch an attack on the camp held a special conference with the Security Forces and the Police personnel to strengthen security in the area.

The IGP instructed the security forces to provide maximum security to the people of the area and to maintain a special security cover to sacred Sri Maha Bodhi, the Atamasthana, and other sacred places of the Anuradhapura town, officials said. "We have reliable information that a group of LTTE cadres haunted the locality of the Air Force base to plan the attack. We are inquiring from occupants of 10 houses surrounding the Air base for more information," North Central Province DIG Jayantha Jayasinghe said.

The bodies of 20 LTTE cadres killed by the Security Forces in Monday's pre-dawn attack targeting the camp will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the officials told reporters.

Source : PTI